The invention relates to a bearing seal, especially for the axle bearings of rail vehicles, with a sealing ring insertable into the pocket of the axle-bearing housing, the so-called axle sleeve, and consisting of an elastic material and provided with a passage fitted to the axle diameter and hugging this axle.
Axle-sleeves of this kind are used in railway vehicles comprising sleeve bearings in which the particular bearing shell for absorbing wheel forces is mounted inside the axle sleeve. The purpose of the seals in such cases is to prevent the lubricant from leaking onto the axle or the wheel from the axle sleeve and to ensure adequate sealing.
As regards one prior art system of this kind, the sealing ring consists of foam material fastened to a support of rigid material, for instance plastic, the support having a somewhat larger passage than would correspond to the axle diameter or the passage through the foam. This sealing ring is so held in place inside the axle sleeve pocket that expanding springs are mounted at the lower rim of the support, the ring upon being inserted into the axle sleeve pocket being held by a clamp reaching through the upwardly pointing slit of this axle sleeve pocket. In this prior art system, therefore, the sealing ring is held in such a manner under prestress within the axle sleeve pocket.
This prior art system suffers from the drawback of the position of the passage in that the sealing ring is predetermined by the latter's position in the axle sleeve pocket, whereby one-sided wear within the passage of the sealing ring may occur in the case of dimensional deviations. This wear further may be enhanced by the soft foam of the sealing ring, and lack of tightness with respect to the lubricant may result.